Replicating Seinfeld's Intercom
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Bumping an old thread because I'm tackling this myself. And now that the episodes are available in HD on Hulu, reference shots are easy to take. I also have the perfect place in my prop room for this, right above a double light switch.
I actually ordered a piece of brass already, but clearly I mis-measured because it arrived smaller than I expected. My light switch is 4.5" squared, so looking at the screen grabs, I kinda questimated how many times the light switch in the photo would fit inside the intercom. I came up with 5.125" x 6.75" (which was way too small).
So my question is: how do you guys measure objects based on screen grabs?
@Roland - how do you count pixels and convert them into measurements?
I remeasured and eyeballed new dimensions. Based on some math that made sense in my head, I'm thinking the intercom might be 6.5" x 7.875"
And I taped off the dimensions:
And here are screen grabs of the intercom (looks like the TALK button went missing for an episode):
I actually ordered a piece of brass already, but clearly I mis-measured because it arrived smaller than I expected. My light switch is 4.5" squared, so looking at the screen grabs, I kinda questimated how many times the light switch in the photo would fit inside the intercom. I came up with 5.125" x 6.75" (which was way too small).
So my question is: how do you guys measure objects based on screen grabs?
@Roland - how do you count pixels and convert them into measurements?
I remeasured and eyeballed new dimensions. Based on some math that made sense in my head, I'm thinking the intercom might be 6.5" x 7.875"
And I taped off the dimensions:
And here are screen grabs of the intercom (looks like the TALK button went missing for an episode):
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Take your screen shot and enlarge it on a printer. Enlarge to get the light switch plate in the screen shot, to the size of yours. You can then place it on the wall right over your switch plate, and then you have accurate size of the intercom as well as accurate distance placement.
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Genius! Thank you sir
Also, when pulling up reference images, Hulu's replica of Seinfeld's apartment came up.
It blows my mind that they couldn't recreate something this simple - especially mislabeling the TALK and DOOR buttons on the intercom. Not only did they swap sides, they labeled them TALK and BUZZ...
It blows my mind that they couldn't recreate something this simple - especially mislabeling the TALK and DOOR buttons on the intercom. Not only did they swap sides, they labeled them TALK and BUZZ...
Moviefreak thanks again, I got the size spot on.
Does anyone have suggestions for taking the shine down on this brass plate? Acetone maybe? I'd like to dull it down before I add weathering/grime.
I bought a brass aging solution, but it had no effect since my brass plate was actually an alloy.
Does anyone have suggestions for taking the shine down on this brass plate? Acetone maybe? I'd like to dull it down before I add weathering/grime.
I bought a brass aging solution, but it had no effect since my brass plate was actually an alloy.
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Thanks. Looks like it has a coating. I have a smaller piece I can run a test on.
@Moviefreak - The aging solution still didn't work, so I hit it with some black acrylic paint mixed with water. I'm pretty happy with the results.
And the intercom is finished!
Here are some deets from my build:
-The brass aging was done with a few rounds of black wash that were wiped up with wet cotton balls and paper towels.
-I casted real screws to make some resin screw heads. Painted them with a mix of gold and black acrylic paints.
-I had the "DOOR" & "TALK" labels made.
-The buttons are off the shelf from eBay.
-The speaker screen was made with cinefoil. I'm not thrilled with the look, so I might update this piece in the future.
And a side by side:
And the intercom is finished!
Here are some deets from my build:
-The brass aging was done with a few rounds of black wash that were wiped up with wet cotton balls and paper towels.
-I casted real screws to make some resin screw heads. Painted them with a mix of gold and black acrylic paints.
-I had the "DOOR" & "TALK" labels made.
-The buttons are off the shelf from eBay.
-The speaker screen was made with cinefoil. I'm not thrilled with the look, so I might update this piece in the future.
And a side by side:
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Looks fantastic! Great job aging with paint.
Thanks! First time doing it. I'm slowly picking up a few skills with each (basic) build.
Why do a youtube show talking about props? :cool
Right on. Post it here when you finish.
Kmacdc
New Member
I will, it's getting close, just waiting on the push button switches and the TALK / DOOR labels. For the speak grill I'm going to use 3.5" round drink coasters spray painted flat black. But I keep experimenting with the speaker grill.
The speaker grill was the one thing I wasn't happy with on mine. I searched ebay high and low for speaker covers and couldn't find a good match. Looking forward to seeing yours!
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